Italy and the European Union

Federiga Bindi

Publication Year: 2011

Federiga Bindi provides, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of Italy's role within the European Union (EU) in this inaugural volume of a book series published jointly by the Brookings Institution Press and the Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (Italian National School of Public Administration, or SSPA). Italy and the European Union relates in detail the historical, cultural, and sociological factors that have led to Italy's incomplete "Europeanization," or full integration, within the EU. It also brings the reader up-to-date on the steps taken by the country's leaders to improve Italy's standing and
become a more effective member in the organization it helped to found.

Discussing the author's extensive research, The Economist notes....

"Federiga Bindi identified a number of barriers to an effective European
policy in Italy: a high turnover of governments; coalition partners with
conflicting aims; the failure of bureaucrats to learn from other member
states; and politicians' lack of interest in Europe... recently however, she found that matters had improved. An interdepartmental body for the coordination of EU policies has been created, Parliament operates an effective scrutiny system..., the administration has learnt to learn from others. But the other problems remain, and they are formidable. Her study ends on an exasperated note: 'Italy appears to be stuck in the age of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, in which the victory of one faction over another is what counts, and the fact that this may be damaging to the country matters little.'"
from The Economist, July 31, 2010

Front Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

...many people to thank. First and foremost, my family for supporting me
through all of these years: my parents, Luigi and Donatella; my sisters, Lavi
and Nico; my husband, Giulio, and former spouse, Cristiano; and, of course,
my beloved son, Giorgio Alessandro...

Introduction: Italy's Future Role in the European Union

...Union (EC/EU); the institutional and
legislative mechanisms regulating the Italy-EU relationship; and Italian negotiating
strategies in “high” and “low” EU politics. The aim is to provide an indepth,
comprehensive analysis of how Italy relates to the European...

The Theoretical Framework

...In those early years, scholars were often driven
by their own expectations about European integration—that is to say, by
whether they were in favor of the process or skeptical about it. Their attitudes
influenced scholars’ selection of topics to be analyzed, as well as their choice of
methodology. According to William Wallace, “The widespread use of politically...

Italy and the EU in Historical Perspective

...be considered in terms of transatlantic relations, relations
with Russia and the other former Soviet states (and previously the USSR), and
other nearby regions, such as the Mediterranean and the Balkans. Because of
the relevant impact on Italy of these exogenous...

Parties and Public Opinion Regarding Europe

...Palombara’s classic works on Italy remain valid even today.
And when Leonardo Morlino compares the Italian and the Spanish cases, for
instance, he finds that the democratic regime in Spain has succeeded in
becoming comparatively more consolidated...

The Italian Parliament and the EU: A Slow and Gradual Europeanization

...more specialized members of parliament (MPs) sit on the Committees
on EU affairs; the amount of work for EU specialists has increased. Also,
parliamentary scrutiny, initially only optional and ex post, is now increasingly...

Adapting the State Machine: The Executive

...most of the European Union’s member states, national executives
tend to dominate their legislatures in EU affairs. Vincent Wright, Hussein
Kassim, and Guy Peters write about “institutional convergence” in the member
states...

Territorial Politics and Organized Interests

...less-developed regions. Some common policies (the Common Agricultural Policy,
the reconversion of the steel and coal industry, the harmonization of economic
policies) did have a regional connotation in the implementation phase.
The need to introduce...

EU Constitutional Policies and High Politics

...Stanley Hoffmann: “If any traditional model were to be applied, it would be
that of a confederation rather than a federation. . . . However, confederalism
alone fails to capture the complexity of the interest-based bargaining that
now prevails in the Community...

Negotiating Low Politics

...the Committee of Wise Men to examine all
aspects of the establishment of an EMU. This committee, made up of the governors
of the central banks (with Italy represented by Lamberto Dini and Tommaso
Padoa Schioppa, as the governor and deputy director of the...

Conclusion: The Long Road to Brussels

...country’s institutions more difficult for both the
government and parliament; interparty rivalry within the coalition governments
also prevented effective coordination both within and between ministries.
The political and administrative leadership appeared to...

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